3 Social Media Trends to Watch in 2017

3 Social Media Trends to Watch in 2017

Social media are undergoing some titanic shifts. While this field has never been stagnant, two trends that became apparent in 2016 will force organizations to rethink their social media strategies in the coming year, while challenging them to measure the impact of those strategies. A third trend will also lead communicators and marketers to rethink their approach to one of the more effective social media tactics of the past year.

The trends to pay attention to this year include:

The migration to messaging apps.

The surging use of live video.

The rise of micro-influencers.

The adoption of messaging apps as primary social media platforms and the sudden interest in live-streaming video have enormous implications for companies accustomed to counting the likes and shares their Facebook posts and tweets earn. While the typical metrics companies use to assess social media performance are questionable on the best of days—most likes are given by people inclined to like a lot of posts, for example—live video and messaging apps are going to complicate things in a big way.

MESSAGING APPS

If you aren’t exploring Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Kik, Telegram, or other messaging apps, consider yourself behind the curve. The top messaging apps now draw more active users than the top social networks on mobile devices, an irrevocable shift that’s loaded with implications.

People are moving to these apps for a variety of reasons, but the ability to be truly social, to interact directly with others, tops the list. Rather than leave comments for the world to read not just now, but in posterity, messaging app users are much more engaged with a small circle of friends who act in the moment.

Most brands haven’t embraced mobile messaging

Some companies are adapting, both with paid advertising and social engagement on messaging